Livingstone imagines video games having full motion animation with realistic graphics and sound. It is interesting to note that his description of the future matches the video games we have today, yet they have failed to replace TTRPGs and instead offer a very different experience. I’d offer that while the rules and simulation based TTRPGs of the 80s might have been supplanted, modern TTRPGs’ focus on story and role play has set them apart.
On the Cover
A wizard works with a seal and candle to cast an intricate spell in the safety of his laboratory. His shadowy chamber is surrounded by carvings, frescos and mysterious faces and his table clear of everything but his spellbook, candles and a snakeman familiar. This is Emanuel’s second cover for the magazine (his first being #14) but he’ll be doing plenty more.Features
- The Hive of Hrrr’l (Daniel Collerton): This adventure/setting was included with the winning Flyman entry and White Dwarf liked it enough to publish it. They were right to do so as its more like a mini setting than a dungeon. There are also a lot of politics between the ruling 15 Flyguard and Five Flymages the players might get involved with. It’s not much good as a frontal assault adventure though, with some rooms containing as many as 500 drones!
- An Introduction to Dungeons and Dragons, Part 1 (Lewis Pulsipher): A look at D&D for anyone completely new to the game. I’m not sure anyone new to it would come across White Dwarf, but readers might have passed the article on to friends and parents who were wondering. This first article covers the basics, underlines that gamers are not all weirdos, and most importantly suggests good ways to find a group to play the game with and get started.
- A Spellcaster’s Guide to Arcane Power (Bill Milne): After the conversation about moving away from Vancian magic comes a system for casting D&D spells with power points instead of spell levels. Each class gets an amount of power points based on their Intelligence and Wisdom (and a few for a low Constitution) and adds a set amount each level. Each spell costs an amount of points to cast based on its spell level. It is a nice clean system and gives magicians a few more spell castings each day if they are careful.
- White Dwarf Interview, Mark Miller: The creator of Traveller talks to White Dwarf about his experiences as a gamer and the founding of Games Designer’s Workshop and Traveller. Again, an interesting look at games playing in the early ‘80s with a note that people criticised Traveller for being both too complex and too simplistic!
Regulars
- Character Conjuring: This issue the character class is the Elementalist by Stephen Bland. This class is one of the better ones, although something the rules already allow for with a little specialism. It mainly grants the class access to all elemental (earth, air, fire or water based) spells, whether they are Magic User, Druid or Cleric ones. It also has bonuses for controlling elementals for some extra spice.
- Letters: This issue, in a new format, the editor steps in with comments on some of the letters. One reader asks about how to bring Weapon Shop Guns into Traveller from the A.E. Van Vogt novel “The Weapon Shops of Isher”. Another reader dares to question the use of the Monstermark system given it is hard to find the issues that explain it anymore. The editor reveals those will be reprinted in the forthcoming “Best of” magazines. Finally, there is a very long letter with a string of amendments and rules options for the Mythology game reviewed last issue. Might have been better saved for an article!
- Molten Magic: Not in this issue as it’s an alternate week, but the news column does offer pictures of some new miniatures from a new British company Chronicle Miniature and some new Citadel releases.
- News: Well, that didn’t last long! The Treasure of the Silver Dragon has been found. Only last issue did a game of the same name come out offering clues to a real world buried silver statue and it’s been dug up already! I couldn’t find much on the internet about what happened, but it seems I only needed to look at the next issue! Traveller has even more releases coming out, and Games Workshop is also releasing some “approved for use with Traveller” supplements of their own (first up being Leviathan by Bob McWilliams, reviewed this issue). Following the success of the mini-module competition announced in issue #21 (the winning entry of which is appearing next issue) there will also be a Traveller adventure competition, the prize for which is publication and a copy of Leviathan.
- Starbase: This issue, Roger E Moore offers a low-end mining ship that might make a good mustering out benefit for a mining character. Why should scouts get all the ships anyway? While it doesn’t look very similar, I can’t help but wistfully think of Firefly reading this entry.
- Treasure Chest: This is my favourite sort of thing. Not powerful magic or NPCs but four non-magical items you might add to your adventuring toolkit. Shame it’s not a little longer.
Fiend Factory
This issue Fiend Factory hosts the winning Flymen entry by Daniel Collerton, based on a series of art pieces shown in issue #20. This version is interesting as the Flymen are all naturally tiny, fly size creatures. So he provides statistics for human sized people meeting a swarm of them, and for adventurers who are shrunk to their size to encounter them in their lairs. There is also a lot of detail on their culture and traditions making this a very detailed entry:- Flyguard: The fifteen elite warrior leaders of the hive, second only to the five Flymages, as long as they accept their place…
- Flymage: The five cleric/mages who lead the hive. Each has a specific remit: attack leader, defence leader, religious leader, healer and lorekeeper.
- Flymen: The basic flymen are divided into several different types, including Drones, Artisans and Warriors.
- Northfly and Sandfly: Two more tribal variants (the Northflies are arctic tribes and the Sandflies are desert tribes) who have smaller leadership councils and a more nomadic lifestyle.
Open Box
This month’s reviews are:- Cults of Prax, Runequest Supplement (The Chaosium): One of the most renowned supplements for Runequest, and here considered to be an essential corebook rather than a supplement. Full detail on running cults, one of the central elements of the setting.
- Deities and Demigods, Advanced D&D Supplement (TSR): One of the great collector’s editions gets a release, complete with the Cthulhu and Melnibonean Mythos that will later be removed after a licence conflict. Still, even without them this was still one of my favourite D&D books and has a wealth of different cultural deities. As close as D&D will get to a setting book for a while.
- Leviathan (Adventure 4), Traveller Supplement (Games Workshop/GDW): The PCs join the crew of a huge merchant cruiser on a mission to find new trade opportunities, from there is gets complicated. The first of Games Workshop’s Traveller releases.
- Warlock, Duelling game (Games Workshop): This is a simple wizard fighting game of timing and lucky card play. Nice to see something more quick and fun as most releases on this front are hardcore simulation/strategy games.
